The following unit on stars is designed to be a three week mini unit that would really be a part of a larger unit in Earth Science covering the subject of Astronomy. I chose the topic of stars because it is a familiar area in astronomy that many students have already been acquainted with in earlier grades. In this unit I plan on taking the prior knowledge my students already have about stars, addressing/correcting the common misconceptions, and building on that foundation with new concepts and ideas that will give students a wider breadth of knowledge about the properties, interactions, and existence of stars. Along with a scientific perception of astronomy and the ability to make relevant connections between science and their everyday lives.
To accomplish this I have imbedded, in this unit, numerous activities that are hands on and involve cooperative learning, access to technology and the internet, and presenting scientific information. These experiences will create many meaningful learning opportunities for students by requiring them to question what they already know about the universe, what they don’t know about the universe, and what they observe in nature. Students will also be given the chance to experience the phenomena first hand by going out and observing the night sky. Students will need to apply their observations of nature to lessons and discussions in the classroom as well as apply the concepts they learn in the classroom to what they see in nature. Students will even have the opportunity to explore some of the many unknowns in astronomy that even scientists are still uncertain of.
The assessment program of this unit will be a combination of both formal and informal assessments. The informal assessments include the students’ participation in class discussion, sharing their star observations, their ability to work well in the group activities, and the completion of their in class work. The formal assessments include the students’ PowerPoint presentations and the in class worksheets or packets. But instead of checking for completion, they are graded based on the quality of work done. I also plan on regularly giving small quizzes consisting of about five to ten questions about every other week so that students can keep up with the work and so that I know if the students understand what is being taught to them.
Each lesson will also contain built in formative and summative assessments. At the beginning of the class I will usually have some activity or discussion question that will require students to use their prior knowledge. This allows me to assess what my students already know and don’t know about a topic so I know where to start teaching or reviewing. At the end of class I will also have a quick activity, usually a worksheet, which will require students to practice the skills they have just learned in class that day. It will also indicate to me whether or not the class understood the lesson.
The main form of assessment in this unit is the unit test. The test I will give students will be a combination of short answer/short essay questions. I think that this form is the best way to test the students’ knowledge because this form will allow me to ask questions that will include both high and low order thinking. I can ask for definitions and recall answers, but I can also ask questions that require students to explain, distinguish, compare/contrast, interpret figures, and apply knowledge to different situations. With this form of a test students will be able to explain their thinking and rationale so when a student gets a question wrong I will know what they were thinking of or what misconception they had.
To make the topic of stars meaningful for students, I provided them with many first hand experiences with the phenomena. I assigned four star gazing assignments that required students to take a closer look at the same stars that they see every night. The assignments were designed to promote inquiry by teaching students how to observe nature and question the behavior of it by asking why. The unit also provided students with many opportunities to investigate interesting and important stellar topics such as black holes, habitable zones of stars, stellar evolution, and H-R Diagrams through research and experimentation. In addition, students were able to explore these topics through the use of technology and cooperative learning.
The use of inquiry was utilized throughout the unit. Students were required to question observations they made on homework assignments as well as in activities that were carried out in the classroom. Each lesson started out with a question being posed to the students followed by a discussion. These daily questions allowed students to question the everyday phenomena they’ve experienced and try to explain it using their prior knowledge. The discussions also allow for the teacher to review previously learned concepts and correct any misconceptions that students have about their prior knowledge. Once the prior knowledge is addressed, new concepts can be added on. The classroom activities also provided assessments for the lessons. The opening discussions allow the teacher to pre assess the class and the activities that follow the lesson act as a reinforcement for the students and an assessment so the teacher can know if the class is understanding the material.
This unit was designed so that all of the basic concepts would be covered in the beginning creating a foundation so that more complex topics can be easily taught. The unit started out with discussing the basic properties of stars (magnitude, temperature, color, mass, etc) that students could easily observe. Once students had the basic knowledge of these factors they were able to be combined to teach harder concepts that students couldn’t easily observe such as: how stars form and age, how star distances are measured, how stars support life, how stars are classified, etc). To help students make sense of everything I think the design of the unit helps as well as the visual components to it. Some things are better understood when they can be observed. I think that this unit is very visual which makes it more interesting and fun for the students which can make some concepts easier to learn. Students are more interested in learning about things that may not be easily understood and that have a sense of uncertainty or unknown. From this unit I hope it will show students that stars are more then just little twinkling dots in the sky, but that they are an important part to the make up and composition of the universe.
Title: STARS
Author: Erin Connors
Grade Level: 9th Grade
Course: Earth Science
Purpose of Unit
To accomplish this I have imbedded, in this unit, numerous activities that are hands on and involve cooperative learning, access to technology and the internet, and presenting scientific information. These experiences will create many meaningful learning opportunities for students by requiring them to question what they already know about the universe, what they don’t know about the universe, and what they observe in nature. Students will also be given the chance to experience the phenomena first hand by going out and observing the night sky. Students will need to apply their observations of nature to lessons and discussions in the classroom as well as apply the concepts they learn in the classroom to what they see in nature. Students will even have the opportunity to explore some of the many unknowns in astronomy that even scientists are still uncertain of.
Assessment Plan
Each lesson will also contain built in formative and summative assessments. At the beginning of the class I will usually have some activity or discussion question that will require students to use their prior knowledge. This allows me to assess what my students already know and don’t know about a topic so I know where to start teaching or reviewing. At the end of class I will also have a quick activity, usually a worksheet, which will require students to practice the skills they have just learned in class that day. It will also indicate to me whether or not the class understood the lesson.
The main form of assessment in this unit is the unit test. The test I will give students will be a combination of short answer/short essay questions. I think that this form is the best way to test the students’ knowledge because this form will allow me to ask questions that will include both high and low order thinking. I can ask for definitions and recall answers, but I can also ask questions that require students to explain, distinguish, compare/contrast, interpret figures, and apply knowledge to different situations. With this form of a test students will be able to explain their thinking and rationale so when a student gets a question wrong I will know what they were thinking of or what misconception they had.
Sample Test Questions
Rationale
The use of inquiry was utilized throughout the unit. Students were required to question observations they made on homework assignments as well as in activities that were carried out in the classroom. Each lesson started out with a question being posed to the students followed by a discussion. These daily questions allowed students to question the everyday phenomena they’ve experienced and try to explain it using their prior knowledge. The discussions also allow for the teacher to review previously learned concepts and correct any misconceptions that students have about their prior knowledge. Once the prior knowledge is addressed, new concepts can be added on. The classroom activities also provided assessments for the lessons. The opening discussions allow the teacher to pre assess the class and the activities that follow the lesson act as a reinforcement for the students and an assessment so the teacher can know if the class is understanding the material.
This unit was designed so that all of the basic concepts would be covered in the beginning creating a foundation so that more complex topics can be easily taught. The unit started out with discussing the basic properties of stars (magnitude, temperature, color, mass, etc) that students could easily observe. Once students had the basic knowledge of these factors they were able to be combined to teach harder concepts that students couldn’t easily observe such as: how stars form and age, how star distances are measured, how stars support life, how stars are classified, etc). To help students make sense of everything I think the design of the unit helps as well as the visual components to it. Some things are better understood when they can be observed. I think that this unit is very visual which makes it more interesting and fun for the students which can make some concepts easier to learn. Students are more interested in learning about things that may not be easily understood and that have a sense of uncertainty or unknown. From this unit I hope it will show students that stars are more then just little twinkling dots in the sky, but that they are an important part to the make up and composition of the universe.
Unit Plan Evaluation